Russian sailors arrive in France for amphibious assault ship training

Source: Reuters

About four hundred Russian sailors arrived in western France on Monday for training on Mistral amphibious assault ships before the first of two is delivered to Moscow by the end of the year.

The United States and some European partners have urged Paris to reconsider the 1.2 billion euro ($1.6 billion) sale to Moscow following Russian action in Ukraine, including its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in March.

France has rebuffed those calls, saying that cancelling the deal would do more damage to Paris than Moscow, illustrating the limitations of European Union sanctions meant to punish Russia.

Television pictures showed a Russian frigate carrying the sailors arriving at the Saint-Nazaire shipyard on Monday morning. The men are due to familiarize themselves with the first carrier, named Vladivostock, over the next few months.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/30/us-ukraine-crisis-mistral-idUSKBN0F50VB20140630